HC Deb 06 April 1967 vol 744 cc75-6W
Miss Lestor

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs whether the registration of electors in Mauritius has yet been completed; whether he intends to publish the reports of the Commonwealth observers who were present in Mauritius during the registration; and what were their conclusions.

Mrs. Hart

The registration of electors in Mauritius took place between 5th September, 1966 and 23rd January, 1967 when the new electoral registers were published. They were brought into force the following day. One or more Commonwealth observer was continuously present in the territory between 5th September and 28th November.

My right hon. Friend has published the reports of the observers today and copies are available in the Vote Office. The observers state that the administrative arrangements for registration were conducted fairly and properly and ensured that all those who were entitled to register and wished to do so were able to register. I am therefore satisfied that these registers can properly be used for the forthcoming elections under the new Constitution.

The observers, however, criticised the interpretation given in Mauritius to Section 9 of the Representation of the People Ordinance 1958 which relates to the compilation of the register and commented on the manner in which two other provisions of the Ordinance, relating to the procedure for dealing with claims to registration and with objections, were implemented. I have therefore considered whether these criticisms affect in any way the suitability of the registers for the forthcoming general election, but for the reasons explained in the introduction to the observers' reports I am satisfied that they do not.

Nevertheless it was decided that as a safeguard an Order in Council should be made to prevent the forthcoming election from being challenged on the grounds of the disputed interpretation of Section 9 or because of any doubts which may arise from the observers' comments in regard to the implementation of other provisions of the Ordinance. An Order was accordingly made on 23rd March and was published today.

Since the general elections held in 1959 and 1963, and local government elections, were conducted on the basis of electoral registers compiled in the same manner as in 1966 the Order in Council also applies to those.